Vancouver Whitecaps' Young-Pyo Lee, of South Korea, is thrown in the air by his teammates after playing in the final professional match of his career, an MLS game against the Colorado Rapids in Vancouver on Sunday October 27, 2013. Lee announced he would be retiring at the conclusion of the MLS season.Darryl Dyck
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Vancouver Whitecaps’ Young-Pyo Lee, of South Korea, playing in the final professional match of his career, salutes the crowd as he receives a standing ovation at the start of an MLS game against the Colorado Rapids.DARRYL DYCK
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Vancouver Whitecaps’ Young-Pyo Lee, centre, of South Korea, talks with his daughters Ha-El Lee, 9, left, and Na-El Lee, 5, as he waits to play the final match of his career.DARRYL DYCK
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Vancouver Whitecaps’ Young-Pyo Lee, second left, of South Korea, walks with his daughters Ha-El Lee, 9, left, and Na-El Lee, 5.DARRYL DYCK
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Vancouver Whitecaps’ captain Jay DeMerit hoists the Cascadia Cup before a MLS game against the Colorado Rapids.DARRYL DYCK
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Vancouver Whitecaps’ goalkeeper David Ousted, left, of Denmark, dives and makes the save on Colorado Rapids’ Edson Buddle.DARRYL DYCK
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Vancouver Whitecaps’ Young-Pyo Lee, centre, of South Korea, walks with his daughters Ha-El Lee, 9, right, and Na-El Lee, 5, as he takes to the pitch for the final match of his career.DARRYL DYCK
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

The classy South Korean international who has manned the right back position for the Vancouver Whitecaps for the last two seasons got a rousing retirement send-off Sunday – a 3-0 win for which he wore the captain’s arm band, two standing ovations and multiple hugs from his appreciative teammates.

More than 200 South Korean fans were in the stands, many of them from the church Lee attends. Some had his face on the South Korean flag.

He said it was a send-off he had thought about since he was young, before he would embark on a career that included three World Cups and seasons spent with top European clubs like PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands and Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League.

“So I have ended my career with a great team in Vancouver,” he said to a throng of journalists, including some from South Korea, in the Whitecaps locker room. “I want to thank a lot of people, especially the fans. So the last two years, I never forget the last two years that this team, in my mind, is my team.”

He later took his Nike soccer boots and a ball around the room for his teammates to autograph.

“Everything he does, he does with class and that filters down through this team and through this organization,” said Caps’ captain Jay DeMerit. “We’re very lucky to have him and it was important for us as a team to send him off on the right note because he deserves it.”

“It was great to see him with a smile on his face all day.”

In 65 career MLS games, he finished with a goal and 10 assists. But it was his presence and professionalism that was his strength.

“He’s just a fantastic person,” said head coach Martin Rennie. “It’s amazing that someone who’s achieved as much as he has is as humble as he is and is a solid character. He’s really helped us in the two years to develop this team.”

Lee and his family will stay in Vancouver for at least the next couple of years while he finishes his business degree at UBC and takes advantage of the Caps offer to learn the business side of the club’s operation.

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Whitecaps' Y.P. Lee gets wonderful send-off

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